The proliferation of smartphones has completely changed the traffic characteristics of cellular networks. With multiple applications (apps) on each device often simultaneously downloading email, music, videos, web content, etc., the data load on commercial cellular operators is heavy and can adversely affect both operators and users. Advances in fourth generation (4G) cellular technologies, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), have increased overall network capacity, but network resources remain finite and infrastructure costs are high. There has also been a need for a dedicated public safety communications network using advanced mobile broadband communications technology, and enabling that network to seamlessly share resources with commercial mobile broadband infrastructure.
Therefore a need exists for enabling sharing of network resources.